The Story of Princess Scota – Princess Meritaten: The African Roots of Ireland

In 1955, archaeologist Dr. Sean O’Riordan of Trinity College, Dublin, made an interesting discovery during an excavation of the Mound of Hostages at Tara, site of ancient kingship of Ireland. Bronze Age skeletal remains were found of what has been argued to be a young prince, still wearing a rare necklace of faience beads, made from a paste of minerals and plant extracts that had been fired.

The skeleton was carbon dated to around 1350 BC. In 1956, J. F. Stone and L. C. Thomas reported that the faience beads were Egyptian: “In fact, when they were compared with Egyptian faience beads, they were found to be not only of identical manufacture but also of matching design.

The famous boy-king Tutankhamun was entombed around the same time as the Tara skeleton and the priceless golden collar around his mummy’s neck was inlayed with matching conical, blue-green faience beads”. An almost identical necklace was found in a Bronze Age burial mound at north Molton, Devon.

Lorraine Evans in her compelling book, Kingdom of the Ark, reveals archaeological connections between Egypt and Ireland. Evans argues that the connections between the two distant lands were plausible and there is archaeological evidence to support the theory.

In 1937 in North Ferriby, Yorkshire, the remains of an ancient boat were discovered. While thought to be a Viking longship at first, continued excavation produced additional ships, wrecked in a storm.

Further investigation showed that the boats were much older than Viking ships and were of a type found in the Mediterranean. It was concluded that these boats originated from 2000 years before the Viking age and were radiocarbon dated to around 1400 to 1350 BC.

Evans then makes connections to argue that these boats could originate from Egypt, as the timeframe fits the dating of the faience beads.

While investigating the origins of the people of Scotland in the Bower manuscript, the Scotichronicon, she discovers the story of Scota, the Egyptian princess and daughter of a pharaoh who fled from Egypt with her husband Gaythelos with a large following of people who arrive in a fleet of ships. They settled in Scotland for a while amongst the natives, until they were forced to leave and landed in Ireland, where they formed the Scotti, and their kings became the high kings of Ireland. In later centuries, they returned to Scotland, defeating the Picts, and giving Scotland its name.

{The Scotichronicon is a 15th-century chronicle by the Scottish historian Walter Bower. It is a continuation of John of Fordun’s earlier work Chronica Gentis Scotorum. The National Library of Scotland has called it “probably the most important mediaeval account of early Scottish history”, noting that it provides both a strong expression of national identity and a window into the world view of mediaeval commentators.}

Evans then posits the questions: Was the Tara necklace a gift from the Egyptians to a local chieftain after their arrival? Or was the Tara prince actually Egyptian himself? According to Bower’s manuscript, Scota’s descendants were the high kings of Ireland. In her quest to discover the true identity of ‘Scota,’ as it was not an Egyptian name, she finds within Bower’s manuscript that Scota’s father is actually named as being Achencres, a Greek version of an Egyptian name. In the work of Manetho, an Egyptian priest, Evans discovers the translation of the name—the pharaoh Achencres was none other than Akhenaten, who reigned in the correct timeframe of 1350 BC. Evans believes that Scota was Meritaten, eldest daughter of Akhenaten and Nefertiti.

Princess Meritaten

The third eldest daughter, Ankhesenpaaten, married her half-brother, King Tutankhamun, son of Akhenaten and his secondary wife, Kiya. The controversial religious shift to the god Aten caused conflict with the Amun priesthood, who reasserted their authority after Akhenaten’s reign ended and he disappeared from history. This conflict and the rumored deaths by plague would have been sufficient motivation for the pharaoh’s eldest daughter to accept a foreign prince in marriage, rather than being Tut’s wife as would have been normal protocol, and to flee from the conflicted country.

What happens to Scota and her people? For this, we must return again to the myths of the people inhabiting Ireland at the time, the Tuatha de Danaan, the magical children of the Goddess Danu: “It was they who originally established the site of Tara, in the Boyne river valley, as the ritual inauguration and burial place of the ancient kings of Ireland. They were generally regarded as the gods and goddesses of the Celtic tribes, but it is believed that their true origins date far back into prehistory”.

In the Annals of the Four Masters, dating to 1632-36, Scota’s husband is named Eremon, and it is Eremon and Eber who divide the land of Ireland between them, with Eremon in the north and Eber in the south. What is interesting to me about this version is the similarity between the division of Ireland and the division of Egypt itself. Egypt was divided into Upper and Lower Egypt, unified by a central connecting city, Memphis. If we consider the existing myths of Ireland’s legends, it, too, was divided to have a central site of unity, known as Mide, the omphalos of Ireland. Within Mide is where the Hill of Tara is situated, as a site of the High Kingship, representing the unity of the land and all of its people.

Sadly, it is in the battle for Ireland at Slieve Mish, as recorded in the Lebor Gabala, that Scota meets a tragic end and is killed. After her death in this battle, the war continued on at Tailtinn against the three kings of the Tuatha de Danaan, the husbands of the Goddesses Banba, Fodla, and Eriu: MacCuill, MacCeacht, and MacGreine. The sons of Mil, after prolonged battle, conquered the de Danaans and took the seat of Tara. According to the Bower manuscript, Scota was buried “between Sliab Mis and the sea,” and her grave, Fert Scota, is found in a glen located in Glenscota.

The exact location of Scota’s resting place remains a mystery, much like the particulars of her past, which are slowing being unveiled. As with many myths, a real person lent her persona and identity to the landscape of the land she became a part of, giving Scotland her name, giving the Celts an additional layer to their unique heritage that is unsung and still somewhat new in theory, as the truths of history do their slow unraveling of their yarns.

Hi Heather,
Great article. I have found the same story from other sources. I believe this to be true history and Lorraine Evans’ book is excellent.
After the battle with the resident Thuatha de Danan tribe (Dan) and Scotia being killed c.1350 BC, the Scotti tribe was allowed to take over present day Ulster territory. When the King of the Vandal/Alan tribe in tow landed in Ireland from Northern Africa coast c. early 6th century AD some of the Scotti tribe took off back to ‘Scotland’ and founded it proper. I know where Scotia is buried, she was re-interred after the battle to avoid defilement.
Eire people generally dark hair/eyes/skin etc
Ulster fair hair and skin/blue eyes etc
This is why Ulster was partioned off when separation from the Republic in 1924 took place, same people/tribe DNA as the Scots.
Some of the Vandal/Alans invaded Mid West Wales in the same time period, c. 550 AD, fought with King Arthur III and eventually ended up in the W. Midlands/Manchester area, now known as the Mercia tribe.

Thanks,
ps The ‘Rampant Lion’ symbol for Scotland has Judah tribe connections and hence the affinity for the Scotti tribe to amalgamate with them. They knew who their next door neighbors would be before their voyage from the middle east! Hu Gdarn.
pps The Dan tribe escaped from internment by the King of Assyria c. 722 BC when the 10 tribes were exiled from the northern Kingdom of Israel at the behest of the Judah/Benjamin tribes of the Sothern Kingdom of Judah. Guess where they ended up. I have also tracked down the other 9 tribes. 2 european destinations.
ppps Princess Albyne eldest daughter of King Shulgi of the 3rd dynasty of Ur also migrated to the same area, SE Wales, in the same time period. Mass imigration.

Recent DNA studies have found the very rare blood type of Tutankhamon and many royal members of his family and the royalty of the 18th dynasty has only been found in Britain!
There have been efforts to connect Tutankhamon with sub-saharan DNA ( black African ) but instead found DNA which matched in Britain and was a European blood type.

Nonsense! Tutu Ankoma is no more European than his grandmother queen Tiye. Some of his descendants migrated to England from a “certain british colony” and that is how their dna ended up there. The ANCIENT EGYPTIANS WERE NEVER WHITE.

Dirtz, the black peoples’ civilization found all over the world have been of Dravidian roots, speaking Tamil versions. They were black all right, but their genetic has nothing at all to do with black Africans.

To follow up on the ancient Tamils/Dravidians being quite black but not having African roots, the city of Eden was excavated recently in Aratta, western Turkey. The writing, at least 22,000 years old, is in the Tamil language. Some of the writing may be 44,000 and it is in Tamil as well. The first homo sapiens sapiens might well have been this east Indian species.

Begs the question: are Africans an early homo sapiens experiment entirely absent the legendary DNA boost the Lemurians got in Eden (to yield homo sapiens sapiens), or are Africans a parallel development in a more southern lab? I think the latter because obviously many clans are now smart enough to farm, which was the stated intent. If you study a bit you’ll understand the need for continued breeding programs. Note that Africans themselves are already several quite dissimilar but similarly-coloured species that shouldn’t even be lumped together purely by colour. Each monarchy has specific shining qualities that they were bred for, and all have ancient knowledge of the genetic manipulations.

Enlil, Jehovah for example deliberately bred giants and there were more than several kinds. Some were enclaved in the kingdom of Og, entirely protected within Israel, by the shalt not kill bylaw Thoth (not jehovah) handed to Moses. The only book found that has been written by an entirely different species, a real validated Rephaim king, has been translated, probably linguistically safely, by Catholic priests. Buy the e-book, the Lost Book of King Og. Because the Vatican has it you might not get an alternative translation for awhile.

Meritaten’s genetic is not black African at all, and of course the point is that she’s the “elongated skull redhead progenitor of the Gaels”. We’ve all got redhead and green eye genes. I doubt that would show up much in a black African genetic but it breeds true in us. My grandma grew up in a castle in Scotland. You could probably guess it by which are still repaired and in use. I was lucky that some of my genealogy is maintained by the monarchies so we go back to square one and beyond. If your own personal history is in dispute, fellas, start reading; the data is out there.

Utter non-sense. White lies. The 18th Dynasty mummies have already been tested numerous times. Many Caucasian scholars and academics are not happy with the results and continue (like you) to attempt to dismiss the results in favor of the more manipulated results that support white supremacies position.
Here are the facts:
The conclusion of the tests were that the mummies autosomal profiles would be most frequent in present day populations of the African Great Lakes region and Southern Africa. Subsequent analysis of the autosomal profile of the mummy of Pharoah Rameses III also concluded that this matched the genetic profiles of the population of the Great Lakes region as well.

The language of the ancient Egyptians is classified as belonging to the AFRO-ASIATIC family of languages. The very languages spoken by the Somali and Ahmara of Ethiopia. Genetic profiles of the mummies match those of Niger-Congo speakers. Niger-Congo speaking people were carriers of human Y chromosome E1b1a. They migrated up the Nile from the Sahara region, as the region began to dry up they fused with the AFRO-ASIATIC speaking people, giving rise to the unique language of the Egyptians.

This matches up with the Hunefer Papyrus (a copy of the funerary ” Egyptian Book of the Dead”) which was owned by Hunefer a 19th Dynasty scribe. The papyrus was found in his tomb in Thebes. It dates from 1285 B.C.E. and can be viewed at the British Museum. In the words of the ancients themselves from their sacred texts, it states:

“AS WE CAME FROM THE BEGINING OF THE NILE WHERE THE GOD HAPI DWELLS, AT THE FOOTHILLS OF THE MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON”.

The begining of the Nile (farthest point) is in Uganda. The other point is in Ethiopia.
The Mountains of the Moon is an African term referring to a legendary mountain range in East Africa: the Rwenzori Mountains of Uganda. Uganda (the Great Lakes area as described above) is the ancestral home of the ancient Egyptians. Many argue that the ancient Egyptians make a strong case for Punt as their ancestral home in their manuscripts. Archaeological finds along with the ancient Egyptian manuscripts point to the ancient city of Opone in modern day Somalia, while others based on the evidence identify modern day Eritrea as the ancient Land of Punt, “land of the gods”.

No matter, the ancient Egyptian’s ancestors were not pale, Caucasian, or Semetic. They were sufficiently melanated or “black” Africans from Southern, Central and western (Sahara) Africa. The population transformation did not really change dramatically until after the Romans invaded Egypt and wrestled it away from the Greeks. Many of the darker Egyptians went south into Nubia, as hoards of Greeks and Romans emigrated into Egypt over hundreds of years, and this would forever change the “complexion” of ancient Egypt (pun intended).

I apologize for the interruption on your discussion of the races, however, in any of this writing on recent findings, where did anyone read here about the “Elongated skulls” found in the Egyptian Monarchy or the color of skin between, “Black, white, pale skin”, oh and the best one “Sufficiently Melanated”? Hah, that was a good one! Why does this always turn into a color scheme?!! I think it’s interesting, & just because it doesn’t fit into your uneducated life, & doesn’t fit into your beliefs, it certainly doesn’t mean it’s wrong!! This recent discovery seems it’s still in its infancy stage, so please, keep your mind open, & myself coming from English, Scottish, & Irish Ancestry with my “Pale skin, reddish-blonde hair, & green eyes” would WELCOME the fact that I may have Egyptian blood in my veins, whether it be black, purple, or yellow because it shows we all come from the same roots, & WE’RE CREATED EQUAL BY GOD, AMEN!!

Legend usually has its basis in actual events that have taken place. At one time, the Trojan war was only thought to be a legend until the actually city was found and there was enough evidence to suggest that a war had destroyed the great city. So too, could this legend of Scota and Meriaten be actual. It will take more research and hard factual archeology to find out if the relationship is fact.

Scota doesn’t represent African roots in Ireland but a return to the old country. The land was occupied and had been for millennia by Fomorians and The Tuatha De Daanan hybrids. We wuz GIANTS; we left those ruined, sometimes megalithic, works all over the world. All of the northern seas are still diked against sea level since at least 1500 BC. Florida and up the east coast too, is rich with dikes, levees , mounds, canals, and all from the same period.

The red-headed mummies were Akhenaten and Tuthankamen father and son pharaohs whose family name means foreignor because they were from somewhere else – some say another planet. (They also had oddly shaped heads)..

Akenaten introduced a new God to Eqypt, a monotheistic one, and tried to give that belief to Egyptian people. The red heads were a short-lived dynasty that seemed to just disappear. Their DNA is RH – and exists in only 10% of Egyptians and 70% of British Isles. A Gaelic legend says that the princess Scota escaped with a Greek or Schythian prince around the time of Moses and brought with them an army and population of Jews and Family members ( the red heads ) who simply went back to their home in the West by way of Spain. DNA is also found both in Spain and Ireland and other British Isles. Galecia in Spain is named after the prince and informs the word Gaelic which some say is different than Celtic. Scotland took the name from Scota daughter of ahtenkaten or Tut I forget which. The Scots were said to unsuccessfully with the Tuatha de Denaan and some Scota’s people ended up in Scotland and conquered the Picts. The Kings of Scotland were said to descend from Scota. This is all legend but it’s fun to think that there is a grain of truth in every legend. Some say it comes from the desire of medieval Kings to be seen as Gods on earth by identifying their line with the Ancient Egyptians. Most medieval kings traced their lineage back to Christ or Moses to give them “divine right.”

All I know is my DNA is Bradley like my Great Grandmother. I have a German name. She had red hair. My sister and her daughter have red hair. Four of my cousins have red hair and we are RH-. The Bradley’s trace relative to King Cole but are Anglo Saxon now in America since 1600’s. My DNA has trace amounts of Greek, Italian, Iberian and Scandinavian, Jewish. I have a genealogical research document many years old indicating we originated in Egypt??

Blessed Love Brethren and Sistren. For all souls who are offended by this article… NEVER once did this article say Egyptians derived from “White” genetics. It specifically states that Irish gene’s have African Roots due to Scota and her Kings that inhabited the area. More proof that ALL “Races” have roots from AFRICA. Everyone needs to remove this “Colorism” mindstate. The Kebra Negast is proof of Africa being Origin, but this information should never be offensive to the I dem as it is UNIFYING creation.
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“I MUST SAY THAT BLACK AND WHITE, AS FORMS OF SPEECH, AND AS A MEANS OF JUDGING MANKIND, SHOULD BE ELIMINATED FROM HUMAN SOCIETY. HUMAN BEINGS ARE PRECISELY THE SAME WHATEVER COLOR, RACE, CREED OR NATIONAL ORIGIN THEY MAY BE.” -Haile Selassie I

I n I Give thanks to our most Divine, Loving Creator, Haile Selassie I. King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Conquering Lion of Judah. The Light of the World.

Not one of you mentioned the Long Ship. It was possible to sail that far and take up residence in Great Britain. Is it impossible to believe there is a blend of blood from Egyptians. I think not.
And yes, I agree, she would have taken slaves, which could have originally come from GB. That could account for a the Caucasian / red head DNA in Egypt.
Obviously she knew where to sail and returned to a place Egyptians had been before.